Sergio Sarita Valdez urges Dominicans to peruse the proposals made in the 2000-2004 government program presented by Hipolito Mejia when he sought the Presidency in 2000.
He cites Paragraph 2.4, in which the government says it would commit to permanently watch over deposits in banks, seeking that the Superintendence of Banks fulfill its role in guaranteeing the financial system, preventing any weakness that could jeopardize the savings of the public in general. In hindsight of the events of 2003, there is little doubt that the bank collapses occurred because the financial authorities did not apply laws and regulations.
Sarita also points to Paragraph 2.6, whereby then-Presidential candidate Mejia emphasized that the new government would avoid by all means incurring any new debt that could endanger commitments to social spending in the budget, and states that the government would exercise very cautious and selective policies in contracting new loans. In reality, the government policy of borrowing from commercial banks for dubious purposes has changed the structure of the foreign debt and has mortgaged future generations.
Furthermore, he mentions Mejia’s promise to protect the real salaries of vulnerable sectors. The poor in the DR were the first to suffer from the doubling and tripling of the cost of basic food items and necessities.
Sarita concludes with the words of former President Juan Bosch: “He who fools me once is sharp; if he fools me twice, I am the fool.” In Sarita’s opinion, however, Dominicans will not be fools on 16 May.